Banks and other financial institutions (hereinafter “institutions”) frequently offer network-based product and service features to their customers as an alternative to those provided via traditional “brick and mortar” banking channels. These features are usually provided by way of a user interface (UI) of a secure Web site hosted by the institution and remotely accessible to its customers using client devices, such as, for example, personal computers (PCs) or other network-enabled devices. Examples of such features include account balance inquiries, electronic funds transfers, transaction information downloads, bill presentment and payment, loan applications, and investment services. Because the UI is typically available to client devices over the Internet, the terms “Internet banking” or “online banking” are commonly used to refer to the availability and use of such features. From a customer standpoint, advantages of Internet banking include the ability to interact with their banking institution any time from virtually any location, the convenience of managing their finances from a single source, and increased transactional speed. Internet banking additionally provides significant economic benefits to banking institutions in terms of reduced paper handling and reduced teller interactions.
Internet banking customers invariably need to communicate with other parties regarding aspects of their finances. Such parties may include, for example, the host institution or other institution(s), billing parties (e.g., utility companies, credit card companies, etc.), and other parties having a financial relationship with the customer (e.g., a roommate, a business partner, a financial advisor, etc.). Such communication is often conducted by email contemporaneously with the customer's Internet banking session using the same client device. Although currently available Internet banking UIs sometimes offer secure messaging services, communication is typically limited to exchanges between the customer and employees of the host institution. In order to exchange email communications with parties other than the financial institution, the customer is thus required to use an email service separate from the Internet banking UI. The use of a separate email service for exchanging financial communications poses certain disadvantages, however. In particular, the need to invoke an additional application may be inconvenient and generally lessens the efficiency afforded by an otherwise self-contained UI. Additionally, because email relating to the customer's finances is interspersed with other unrelated and potentially distracting communications, the customer's ability to focus on Internet banking tasks at hand is diminished, and the risk of overlooking or inadvertently deleting a financial communications is increased.